I met my husband, Dave, in 2019. We each had two kids of our own, and it didn’t take long before we knew we had found true love and began to plan for a future together.
In September 2022, I brought Dave to the emergency room for what I thought was food poisoning. I begged the doctor to give him something for the nausea, but they said something didn’t seem quite right. Within a half hour, I was staring at a golf ball-sized tumor in his right frontal lobe, pushing on the midline.
After emergency surgery, we learned it was a grade four astrocytoma with the blessing of an IDH mutation, and began chemo and radiation.
Since his tumor had spread quickly to the spinal fluid, the radiation Dave had to endure was even more severe and lasted twelve weeks, leaving him with deficits in his brain function as well as his movement.
As we re-entered the community, we learned that my daughter has two teammates who also have parents with brain tumors who had found strength and purpose through the National Brain Tumor Society. They welcomed us to the community with open arms and helped us find our way.
Through walks, rides, gatherings, and support groups sponsored by NBTS, we have begun to create a community of people who understand what we go through each day. Sharing our story has helped us see that we have support in places we would never have imagined. Raising money has helped us feel a sense of purpose.
Despite the challenges, we have created so many beautiful memories as a family of six over the last three-plus years since Dave’s diagnosis, including getting married just two weeks after his last treatment! We will never quit our mission to make the most out of each day, and we will never stop doing all we can to create hope for Dave and all those impacted by brain tumors.
